Down 7-0 to Ole Miss early in the first quarter in the Egg Bowl rivalry game, Mississippi State star QB Nick Fitzgerald suffered a gruesome leg/ankle injury on a 2nd-and-7 run. (And no, it’ll not be shown here.)

He tried scrambling, was tackled low by one Rebel and high by another. Lying on the ground with his ankle clearly broken, he was down for several minutes as medical staff rushed on to the field to immobilize his leg in an air cast.

After he was stabilized, he was able to hop up, get on the cart, and cheer on his teammates – with a smile, no less – as he was being driven off the field.

One of the nation’s top all-around quarterbacks, the 6-5, 230-pound junior completed 56% of his passes for 1,770 yards and 15 touchdowns with ten picks, and ran for 968 yards and 14 scores.

Last year, he ran for 258 yards and two touchdowns against the Rebels, and threw for 109 yards and three scores in the 55-20 win.

And now the offense belongs to Kenton Thompson, a 6-4, 222-pound freshman who saw plenty of time over the first half of the season – running for 178 yards and two scores, and hitting 42% of his throws for 66 yards and a touchdown – seeing most of his time in blowouts.